Amherst students have done a great job promoting sexual respect and, what I like to call, consent-y sex. If consensual sex is an umbrella, consent-y sex lies underneath it. What does consent-y sex look like? We see the answer to this question all over campus, on posters, in presentations or even in class. It looks like asking for consent to begin a sexual act, asking for consent verbally throughout the act, and respecting the answers to those questions whether they are “yes” or “no.” I think it’s great that people are starting to have and enjoy consent-y sex.
As a print publication with nearly 150 years of history, the Amherst Student has a substantial archive of student writing. The Student’s office and the College archives house stacks of aged books with every issue that came before this one and will grow to include each one that will come after. Though this routine does document our history, successfully navigating our records seems harder than one might imagine. For example, how does one approach finding all articles on Asian American identities, or all articles discussing sexual assault?
Hypersensitive spoiled brats who prefer safe spaces to free speech. Dishonest scientists who cook up rigged studies of climate change. Elitist humanists who study books no one reads using words no one can understand. Humorless social scientists who indoctrinate their students with politically correct sanctimony. Administrators who pander to students’ unreasonable demands and refuse to address reasonable ones. Self-righteous bastions that profess to protect free speech but censor those they don’t wish to hear.
My high school was 48 percent black, 40 percent white, 12 percent other and completely segregated — students were put too early into tracks that seldom came together again. Since I grew up in such a racially segregated environment, Amherst shocked me upon arrival. The first time I entered Valentine Dining Hall was the first time I believed in diverse community instead of wishing for it.
I am not an Atlanta Falcons fan. Before this year’s Super Bowl, I’d never cared about the outcome of a Falcons game before. However, when Atlanta jumped out to a 21-3 first half lead, I was ecstatic. The Falcons had brought me more sports-related happiness in just one half of football than my actual favorite team, the New York Jets, had brought me all season. This is because the Falcons were playing the New England Patriots.
Amherst is often described as an elite institution, a label that typically carries positive connotations. Specifically, “elite” invokes prestige and rigor, framing Amherst as a beacon of achievement in higher education. To a large degree, our campus community embodies these ideals through the various academic, athletic and personal accomplishments on which The Student reports each week. While The Editorial Board is certainly proud of our college, we also wish to investigate the uglier side of the “elite” label.
“I didn’t choose Colgate University because it’s white-dominated,” I told a friend. I said this because I, an Egyptian, an Arab, a Middle-Easterner, would not have been comfortable in a space with lack of representation and an implied obligation to answer an endless stream of questions about my region. She laughed awkwardly, asked if I was afraid of white people and said that I look white. I was instantly confused and wondered why she said what she did. She knows where I’m from.
